


The Drop

by WizardSandwich



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Drabbles, Gen, can i write my babe? no i can't, fulcrum: fuck you that's why, i'm a dumb bitch and i love fulcrum so here we are, jk jk, op @ fulcrum: why are you Like That, this is the dumbest au i've ever concocted and i've come up with some dumb stuff, will that stop me from trying? no
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-18
Updated: 2019-07-16
Packaged: 2019-10-31 06:19:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17844050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WizardSandwich/pseuds/WizardSandwich
Summary: Fulcrum doesn't expect to wake up after being dropped on Clemency. He certainly doesn't expect to be taken into the Autobot fold.





	1. 1. Cuffs

**Author's Note:**

> i'm an idiot but this entire au was constructed bc i wanted op to lift fulcrum into his beefy arms askldjsakldjskld

All of the Autobots are imposing, but Optimus Prime seems to radiate an air that demands submission and respect. He makes Fulcrum want to run almost as much as Prowl does. Unfortunately, Fulcrum lacks both physical fortitude and means of escape. Running would be almost impossible, especially with the cuffs around his wrists.

“You’re K-Class?” the Prime asks.

His voice is low and rough and too frightening in ways that it shouldn’t be. It would make any of the other K-Class try to spit in his face.

“I am,” Fulcrum says. He tries his best to keep his voice level, but everyone in the room can hear the way it cracks, can see his trembling servos.

Prime’s gaze is more calculating than Fulcrum expected. Fulcrum can’t see his mouth but he can see the way the big bot’s face practically warps, giving away his frown. “Tell me,” Prime starts slowly, “why did you _choose_ to be reformatted like this?”

He puts too much emphasis on the word choose, like he’s trying to solve some complex problem he doesn’t understand. Like Fulcrum had had a choice in the first place. It almost makes him want to laugh, but he doesn’t. He’s too afraid of repercussions and death and a bit too traumatized from the drop and everything before.


	2. 2. Truths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And the interrogation continues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for the overwhelmingly positive response! someone on tumblr asked for some more and i'm here to serve! you can find me at @tasteful-robot-loving on tumblr if you'd like to put in some requests and/or input!

Fulcrum is still terrified of Prowl, even as the mech offers him a cube of energon. Optimus Prime still looks at him like he is a puzzle, watches Fulcrum’s servos tremble as he accepts the cube.

“Will you tell us why you became what you are?” Optimus Prime asks him again. “Why you chose this?”

Fulcrum brings the cube to his intake and takes a sip. He’s sure his voice has left him. He’s not sure what he’s supposed to say to this mech, this Prime. He was warned about him, about what he stood for. But nothing about him seems cruel or merciless. Nothing about him seems to be an oppressor of those beneath him.

“I—” Fulcrum starts. He swallows around his words, feel the anxiety rise in his spark. “I never—I didn’t choose this.”

Optimus suddenly looks troubled. His whole frame jolts into an odd sort of stiffness, his optics widen in surprise. Fulcrum imagines that if he could see his face his mouth would be open.

“That’s not what our intelligence tells us,” Prowl cuts in smoothly.

Fulcrum almost sneers. Being in prison had never been good for his manners. But he doesn’t. He just tightens his grip on the cube, watches the way his servos continue to shake. “Some of us chose this. Some of us didn’t. I wasn’t lucky enough to get a choice.”

Even he can hear how his voice shakes. Really, he might be the most aware of it out of every mech in the room.

“Why you?” Optimus asks as he finds his voice.

Fulcrum musters up _something_ , not courage but perhaps the will to survive this. In order to do that though, he has to cooperate. Plus, Prime doesn’t seem that bad. So he says, “I was arrested for cowardice. I ran from an Autobot attack and left my crew behind. They put me in a prison and we were—they decided we’d be used for the next batch of suicide bombers.”

There’s something haunted in Prime’s gaze, like the answer isn’t what he expected. Like Fulcrum’s truthful admission should somehow be a lie, like he wants Fulcrum to be lying. But Fulcrum isn’t. He knows it and Prowl does too, from the way his expression turns grim. The ops mech in the room looks like he knows it too.

Optimus Prime swallows around the imaginary lump in his throat and says, “I’m sorry,” like it means something.

It doesn’t. Fulcrum was tortured and reformatted and beaten and Prime’s apologies mean nothing. Not because Prime committed the wrong, but because Fulcrum has suffered at his own faction’s servos. Because Fulcrum may be a coward, but he isn’t a traitor. This little bit of information given will change nothing for anyone, but it may get Fulcrum out alive.


End file.
